Car coupler support and positioning device



V. E. SISSON April 18', 1950 CAR COUPLER SUPPORT AND POSITIONING DEVICEFiled Oct. 31, 1946 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Apr. 18, 1950 CAR COUPLER SUPP I DEVICE Vinton E. Sisson,Chicago, Ill., assignor to Standard Railway Equipment ManufacturingCompany, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application October31, 1946, Serial No. 706,983

6 Claims.

This invention relatesto coupler supporting and positioning devices forrailway car couplers, and more particularly to means to swingably andresiliently support a railway car coupler in such manner that when thecoupler is uncoupled, said coupler is maintained by the :device insubstan tially the longitudinal central plane of the car or in whatisknown in the trade as coupling range. a f

More specifically the'de'vice comprises a coupler carrier pivotallysupported at it sends by links which are pivotally, swingably,resiliently, and preferably 'adjustably supported intermediate theirends from a member adapted to be fixed to a railway car, such as astriking casting, as

' coupling range and as applied to the associated shown in the drawings."To provide such a deing-device. In other words,should a spring break 1the coupler would still be swingablysupported and be returned tocouplingrange by the device.

A further object'of the invention is to provide such a cushioned couplercarrier and positioning device of the swing motion type wherein .the

cushioning means is not distorted during the swinging of the device.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such a cushionedcoupler carrier and positioning device wherein provision is made foradjusting the height of the carrier, and thereby the coupler to besupported thereon, above the top of the rail without afiecting theresiliency of the cushioning means.

The term resilient means, as used in this specification and claims, isintended to" cover springs, rubber or any other resilient material. Mostof these materials, if intermittently compressed to excess progressivelylose their efiectiveness, and, consequently, it is a further object ofthe invention to provide means to limitthe compression of said resilientmeans.

' In the drawings: I

Figure 1 is a half front, elevation of my improved device, partly insection, and shown in parts of a railway car.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure '1, partly in elevation.

V Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 illustrat-' ing the coupler asdrawn to one side as would occur when coupled to another coupler androunding a curve.

In the drawings the coupler striker is shown at ll and comprises eitheran integral ca'st-' ing or one built up of welded parts so as tosurround the coupler shank 2. Striker l-l is substantially rectangularin form and composed or two like spaced plates having aligned openings 3therein through which the car coupler 2 pro jects and is longitudinally,laterally and vertically movable therein as is common. The platescomprising the striker are held in spaced relation by suitable webs orshelves, such as shown at 4 and 5, and said striker is securely fixed byany desired means to the end sill or any other fixed part of the carend.

The upper surface of each outer end of the web 4 inclines slightlydownwardl toward the longitudinal center thereof, and adjacent eachouter end of said web 4 there is provided a through central hole oraperture 6 which is tapered downwardly and outwardly for reasons whichwill hereinafter appear. Reciprocably mounted in this hole 6 is a linkhaving a T head 8, intermediate the ends of which link is slidablymounted thereupon the sleeved spring seat 9. Spring seat 9 is ofsubstantially inverted T-shape in longitudinal section, the sleeveportion l0 thereof providing an elongated bearing through which the link1 is reciprocable. The lower surface of the T portion of seat 9 is, inone diametrical direction, milled in two opposite planes to coincidewith the inclination of upper surface of web 4, (see Figure 2) toprevent ro tation of the spring seat around the axis of the link, while.in the diametrical direction at right angles thereto said lower surfaceof the T portion of seat 9 is arouate in form, (see Figures 1 and 3) toform arocker. About the sleeve portion I0 is mounted a coiled spring IIand the upper surface of the T-portion of seat 9 is provided with anannular recess to receive the lower convolution of said spring H. Aspring cap I2 is provided, having an axial hole therethrough, of adiameter to slide upon link i, and the lower surface of said spring capis recessed to receive and rest upon the upper convolution of saidspring II. A nut I3 is applied to the threaded end of the link abovespring cap l2 to hold said parts in their assembled relation, and toregulate the distance the T-link 1 projects below the web 4. Ifpreferred the spring cap may be threaded and provided with surfaces forapplication of a wrench and thus eliminate the necessity for the nut [3.

The coupler carrier is shown at 20, which is installed between thestriker walls l-l and extends from side to side thereof. Carrier 2i)sup.- ports the coupler intermediate of its ends, and the ends ofcarrier 2!] are bifurcated so as to straddle the link I. outerbifurcated ends of carrier 20 are capped to provide a concaved bearingportion designed to rest upon the T portion 8 upon opposite sides oflink 1, as clearly shown in Figure 2, and be swingingly supportedthereby. The bifurcated ends of coupler carrier 20 are provided withup.- standing webs 2! adjacent the inner walls of the bifurcation, whichstrengthen the said ends, and, as said webs 2i terminate adjacent thesides of coupler shank 2, they serve to provide stops to prevent thecoupler sliding laterally on said carrier, so that any lateral movementof the coupler forces the carrier laterally therewith, which causes thelinks 1' to'swing, as shown in Figure 3, causing the spring seat 9' torockon the upper surface of web l. At the side edges of the carrierthere are depending webs 22 to provide greater strength for this elementwhich must support the entire weight of the coupler and receive, in thefirst instance, all impacts transmitted therefrom. Thus the coupler issupported upon the carrier, which, in turn, is supported upon the linksI, which are resiliently and pivotally mounted upon the webs 4-.Consequently, all ordinary road-bed shocks causing up and down movementof the coupler are absorbed by the'springs II. The springs are of asize, length and strength to support the weight of the coupler andcarrier a normal distance above the web and below the upper wall 23 ofthe opening in the striker plates I-l, so that there is clearance on allsides of the coupler shank to permit average vertical and lateralmovement within the striker. It will be noted, however, that thedistance between the upper surface 24 of the coupler and the upper wall23'0f opening 3, determines the extent to which the coupler may jump.Similarly the distance between the lower edges of the webs 22 and theweb 5 determines the extent to which the coupler may descend. Thesedistances are regulated so that during almost the entire normal movementof the coupler in service no contact will be made by the coupler withany part of the striker, and the shocks from said n'lormal movement willbe absorbed by the springs l 1 V In the cases of abnormal shocks, it isdesirable to prevent breakage of the springs, and also to prevent thecoupler and carrier from dropping upon the web 5. Therefore, the sleeveII] of spring seat Sis elongated so that when the device is assembled,as shown with the weight of the coupler and carrier contracting thesprings, the upper end of the sleeve ID will be spaced from the springcap l2 a distance slightly less than the distance between the loweredges of 'webs 22 and web 5, so that in case of an abnormal shock whichcould cause a severe dropin the coupler, the spring cap l2 would bepulled down against thespring pressure until it contacted the upper endof sleeve it], thus abruptly stopping further downward movement of thecoupler 2' and carrier Zllrbefore the flanges 22 of carrier 20 engagedthe The lower surface of the web 5, as should this occur the carriermight be dragged laterally by the coupler, but neither the coupler northe carrier could be returned by the device to normal coupling rangewhen free to do so.

To regulate the height of the coupler so as to maintain the same theproper distance above the rail and within coupling range, the nut l3 maybe turned on or or: as circumstances may require which willcorrespondingly raise or lower the coupler carrier and thereby thecoupler.

When the coupler moves laterally, as shown in Figure 3, it is noted thatthe whole link and spring assembly rocks on spring seat 9 and that allparts are, therefore, maintained in axial alignment, although theaxis'has moved from the vertical ornormal position, and that when thecoupler, while in this position, is uncoupled, the weight of the couplerand carrier on the tipped links will cause the axis of the links toagain return to normal vertical position, by gravity. The shorter thedistance from the T '8 to the spring seat 9 the more positive willsuchreturn be, since, in swinging, the coupler is elevated more.Therefore, the pivot point is arranged intermediate the ends of thelinks.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as itobvious'that various modifications thereof, within the scope of, theclaims, will occur to persons skilled the art.

I claim:

1. Means to swingably and resiliently support a coupler carrier from amember adapted to be fixed to a car andprovided with spaced shelveshaving apertures therein; said means comprising an assembly adjacenteach end of the carrier, each assembly comprising a spring cap, a springinterposed between said spring cap and a shelf of said member, and alink passing through said spring cap, said spring and said aperture,said link having pivotal supporting engagement with the carrier, andmeansto hold said elements in operative relationship.'

-2. Means to swingably andresiliently support a coupler carrier from amember adapted to be fixed to acar, said member provided with spacedshelves each having; an aperture therethrough; said means comprising alinkextending through one of said apertures; and adapted to pivotablysuspend one endef the carrier-from said member, a cap on said link,aresilient element encircling said link and interposed between said capand said shelves, means to adjust the" height of said carrier withoutaffectingthe tension in the resilient element, and means to-limit thecompressionin said resilient elements, and tosupport said carrier uponaccidental failure of said resilient elements so' as to maintain acoupler carried by said carrier within coupling: range.

3. Means to swingably and resiliently support a coupler carrier from amember adapted to be fixed to a car and provided with spaced shelveshaving aperturestherein; said means comprising an assembly adjacent eachend of, the carrier, each assembly comprising a, rockabl'e spring seatsuperimposed above and concentric with. one of the apertures in saidmember, a spring resting upon said spring seat, a spring cap, and a linkpassing through said spring cap, said spring, said spring. seatand saidapertures, said link having pivotal supporting engagement with thecarrier, and means to hold said elements in operative relationship.

4.. A structurefias defined in claim 3 where the shelves of said membereach comprise downwardly inclinedoppositely disposed planes slopmetoward the aperture therein for engagement with a correspondingly shapedbottom of the rockable spring seat to prevent the spring seat fromrotating around the axis of the link.

5. A structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said rockable spring seatis provided with means engageable with said spring cap to limit thedownward movement of said cap so as to limit the compression of thespring.

6. A structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said rockable spring seatis provided with a sleeve surrounding said link engageable with said capto limit the downward movement of said cap so as to limit thecompression of the spring.

VINI'ON E. SISSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

